Ventilated range

ABSTRACT

A HOUSING ARRANGEMENT FOR A VENTILATE COOKING RANGE INCLUDING A BURNER BOX FOR CONTAINING SURFACE LEVEL HEATING UNITS AND/OR OPEN AIR BROILER, AN AIR EXHAUST PLENUM CHAMBER EXTENDING THROUGH AND BISECTING THE BURNER BOX FOR COMMUNICATION WITH AN AIR EXHAUST FAN FOR EXPELLING SMOKE AND GREASE LADEN FUMES TO THE OUTSIDE OF A BUILDING WALL, AND AN OVEN OR AN OVEN PROVIDED WITH AN ENCLOSED BROILER WHICH IS IN VENTING COMMUNICATION WITH THE PLENUM CHAMBER.

United States Patent Inventor Joseph J. Ceroln Indianapolis, Ind. Appl.No. 824,043 Filed May 13, 1969 Patented June 28, 1971 Assignee Jenn-AirCorporation Indianapolis, Ind.

VENTILATED RANGE 4 Claims, 9 Drawing Figs.

11.8. CI 126/1, 126/21,126/37,126/300 Int. Cl F24c 1/00, F24c 15/20Field of Search 126/299,

m), 299 (C), 300, 301, 303, 214 (A), 21, 21 (A), 39 (H), 37; 98/36, 115(K) [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,564,087 8/1951 Warren126/21AX 2,674,991 4/1954 Schaefer 126/21AX 3,142,295 7/1964 Blee 126/373,367,320 2/1968 Jenn et al 126/300 Primary ExaminerCharles J. MyhreAltorney Kenneth E. Walden ABSTRACT: A housing arrangement for aventilated cooking range including a burner box for containing surfacelevel heating units and/or open air broiler, an air exhaust plenumchamber extending through and bisecting the burner box for communicationwith an air exhaust fan for expelling smoke and grease laden fumes tothe outside of a building wall, and an oven or an oven provided with anenclosed broiler which is in venting communication with the plenumchamber.

PATENTED JUH28 I971 sum 1 BF 4 INVE JOSEPH J. CER

NTOR. O L A ATTORNEY PATENTED unzalgn- SHEET 3 0F 4 INVENTOR. JOSEPH J.cER OLA ma /Q4 ATTORNEY PATENTED JUH28 I971 SHEET b 0F 4 INVENTOR.JOSEPH J. CEROLA MAJ/Q NwN Qwm IT I I NNN ATTORNEY VENTILATED RANGEDisclosure herein is made to a ventilated range. It amounts to a furtherdevelopment over the disclosure in U. S. Application Ser. No. 628,499filed Apr. 4, 1967 now U.S. Pat. No. 3,444,805. The specification tofollow will make reference to the drawings herein which form a part ofthis disclosure.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 represents a perspective view of one fonn of the ventilated rangeshown in the counter in which it is mounted.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the ventilated range taken generallyalong line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the control panel.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of the broiler.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken through a grease collecting jarcarried from the bottom of the burner box.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view similar to that of FIG. 2 but with amodification.

FIG. 7 represents a cross-sectional view of a grease collecting tray.

FIG. 8 represents cation.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a portion of the oven and linkageassociated therewith.

In the counter top shown in phantom by FIG. 1 is received a ventilatedrange generally designated by the numeral 10. This range shown in FIG. 1includes plural heating units 12 on one side and an open air broilinggrill 14 on the other. An air intake grill l6 defines an entrance to aplenum chamber which will be described in detail later in thespecification. The front portion of the range shows a control panel 18and an oven door 20.

FIG. 2, which is a cross-sectional view of the range, shows housing 20and its various parts. The housing generally defines an enclosure forthe range. It is provided with portions 22 which are adapted to overhangand be supported from edges of a cabinet 24 (in phantom) in which therange is received. A burner box 26 is received in the top of the housingand extends substantially across its entire surface. It is defined as anupwardly facing recessed box for receiving heater units 12 and broilerand grill 14. The burner box is supported on projections 19 from a topportion of housing 20 and generally received below the top surfacethereof.

A plenum chamber 28 is located in the housing beneath the burner box.The plenum chamber projects through the bottom of the burner box 26 andextends upwardly to a level of the top of the housing and terminates inan air intake grill 16. The plenum chamber partially lies adjacent tothat portion of the burner box underneath the broiler. The lower portionof the plenum chamber terminates in an opening 30 adjacent power drivenexhaust fan 32. The exhaust fan is driven by an electric motor 34. A fanhousing 36 is connected to an exhaust conduit 41 which is adapted tocarry smoke and grease laden fumes through a building wall to theoutside.

The lowest portion of plenum 28 is provided with an opening 40 throughwhich grease drains into a tray 42. The tray is held in position bychannels 44 which permits removal of the tray for emptying greasetherefrom. A filter 46 is located in the plenum chamber just in front ofthe entrance to the exhaust fan for the purpose of causing grease fumesfrom the air to be collected thereon and drain into the bottom portionof the plenum.

The broiler, previously referred to by the numeral 14, includes a grill,electric heating elements 50, grill rock basket 52 (containing basaltrock 54) and a drip pan 56. The electric elements rest on support 51 ofthe basket. All of the elements comprising the broiler, with theexception of the grill are located within one end of burner box 26. Drippan 56 is separated by a space 57 from burner box 26 for the purpose ofpermitting air to pass therebetween for cooling the bottom of the drippan. In this manner the temperature of the bottom of the drip pan andthe grease therein are maintained below a temperature sufficiently highto sustain continuous combustion of grease. Air is permitted to enterspace 57 between the burner box and drip pan through slot 58 fonned inthe botin cross-sectional view of another modifitom of the burner box.This cooling air is drawn into the plenum chamber 28 at slot 60. Coolingair enters the range housing through an overlay vent 62 and afterflowing around motor 34 passes on to cool drip pan 56. In addition tothe cooling air drawn underneath the drip pan a substantially greatervolume of air is drawn horizontally across grill l4 and through airintake grill 16 into plenum chamber 28 as indicated by the arrows. Thisair collects smoke and grease laden fumes emitting from broilingmeat orthe like. At the same time, air is drawn in the opposite directionacross heating units 12 for picking up cooking odors.

The midportion of burner box 26 is provided with an opening extendingthereacross to permit plenum 28 to extend-upwardly therethrough. Theplenum underlies a portion of the burner box and overlies a portion ofthe oven.

The vast volume of air that is being handled travels horizontally acrossthe broiler and heating units and is drawn into the plenum chamber atgrill [6. Fan housing 36 which receives fan 32 is adapted to be securedin any one of plural positions to direct its discharge 38 in the desireddirection to accommodate the particular installation. The direction ofdischarge 38 can be rearward or downward, as shown.

As shown in FIG. 5, the bottom of burner box is provided with an opening64 which receives a drip nozzle 66 in the bottom of drip pan 56. A fruitjar lid 68, having an opening therethrough, is riveted or otherwisesecured to the burner box, as shown, for receiving a fruit jar 70.Grease and food particles dropping into drip pan 56 drain into jar 70.Therefore, grease collecting means 70 are provided at a low point forthe drip pan. Grease collecting tray 42 is located at the low point inthe plenum chamber.

As shown in FIG. 2, the right-hand end of the burner box receivescooking units 12. These units are supportedly carried through openingsin cover 88. A formed member having a dished surface 64 underlies theburners for collecting debris falling through the openings from foodbeing cooked.

FIG. 2 further discloses an oven chamber defined by walls 72 in which islocated heating units 74. Insulation 76 is provided around the oven. 1

Control panel 18 (FIG. 3) includes a circuit breaker 78, electric outlet80, light switch 82, thermostat 84 and oven pilot light 86.

FIG. 6 represents in cross section a modification of the structure shownin FIG. 2. Like arrangements have been identified by similar numeralsdiffering only in that the numerals in FIG. 6 are of a century higher.The basic difference in FIG. 6 is that heating units 12 of FIG. 2 havebeen replaced by broiler 114. This is shown in FIG. 6 wherein theright-hand portion of the cross section represents a substantial mirrorimage of the left-hand side. As before an air intake grill 116 definesan entrance to a plenum chamber 128. The housing 120 contains aplurality of parts all substantially enclosed within the range. Thehousing is provided with overhanging parts or ears 122 which are adaptedto support the housing from the top of a cutaway counter. Such a counteris shown in phantom lines and designated by the numeral 124. A burnerbox 126 having a bottom and sidewalls is received within the top ofhousing 120 and extends substantially along the entire top surfacethereof. It is supported by projections 119 which overhang or otherwiseconnect to a portion of the housing.

Plenum chamber 128 includes an entrance portion which bisects the bottomof burner box 126 and extends upwardly therefrom and terminates in anopening substantially level with the top of the housing. A body portionof the plenum chamber is located between the burner box and an oven (tobe described later). A lower part of the plenum chamber terminates in anopening 130 leading into a housing 136 containing a power driven exhaustfan 132. The lowermost portion of the plenum chamber is provided with anopening leading into a removable grease collecting tray 142. This traymay be supported in position by channels 144. Fan 132 driven by airmotor 134 draws air into the plenum chamber as indicated by the arrowsabove the broilers in through grill 116 to plenum Located on either sideof plenum chamber entrance are up-,

wardly facing recesses defined by the burner box and the plenum. Abroiler designated generally by the numeral 115 contains heatingelements 150 supported in position by a rod 151 form a perforated basket152 containing basalt rock 154. Grease from broiling meats, or the like,fall downwardly from grill 114 onto the heated rocks, where smoke isgiven off to enhance broiling, and then fall into the bottom of drip pan156. The bottom of the drip pan is provided with an aperture similar to66 as shown in FIG. 5. The bottom of the burner box is additionallyprovided with an entrance through which grease may drain from the drippan into a receptacle such as 70 in FIG. 5 or 171 in FIG. 7.

In addition to the air that is drawn across the top of the broiler, alesser amount is permitted to flow underneath the drip pan in space 157for the purpose of cooling the drip pan so as to maintain collectinggrease therein at a temperature sufiiciently low so as to not supportcontinuous combustion. This cooling air is permitted to enter thehousing through overlay opening 162 and enter through slot 158 formed inthe bottom 'of burner box and finally to exit through slot 160 into theplenum chamber. The path of cooling air on the right-hand broiler (FIG.6) is through slot 163 and slot 159 and into the plenum chamber throughopening 161.

As shown in FIG. 6 grease is pennitted to drain away from the righthandbroiler through a conduit 165 which leads toward tray 142. A tray 17] asshown in FIG. 7 may be used instead of conduit 165 for the purpose ofcollecting grease and fallen food particles.

A further embodiment is shown in FIG. 8 wherein similar numerals areapplied to like elements in other FIGS. but of a higher century number.Herein surface cooking units 212 are provided on either side of plenumentrance 216. The arrangement is substantially identical to thearrangement shown in heating units 12 in FIG. 2. Since certain parts arecommon and similar numerals are being applied, a complete description ofthe structure shown in FIG. 8 is not believed essential for anunderstanding thereof. The plenum chamber arrangement remainssubstantially unchanged, but one substantial modification has been madein the ventilating system. It will be noted in FIG. 8 that a broilingelement 275 is located in the top of the oven and that positionablebroiling tray is located underneath. The oven chamber includes anopening 280 which communicates with plenum chamber 228 for passage ofair therethrough. A damper 282 is pivotally secured to the oven chamberwalls so as to close this openingfifl' he positioning of damper 282 isattained by manipulation of rod 284 (FIG. 9) which operates through abellcrank arrangement 286 and link 288. By pushing or pulling rod 284the desiredsetting on damper 282 can be attained. While the oven door isnot shown other than in FIGS.'1 and 3, it is common in the art for ovendoors to be fully closed or left in an ajar position so as to permit airto enter the oven during broiling operation. This arrangement isfollowed in the instant application. Another way of permitting air toenter the oven when the oven door is fully closed is to provide the doorwith an incomplete seal for this purpose.

By this specification referring to the various modifications applicanthas disclosed his improvement upon which patent protection is sought.

I claim: V

l. A housing for a ventilated cooking range comprising:

a burner box having sidewalls and a bottom received below the topsurface of the housing,

an oven located beneath said burner box, a plenum chamber having anentrance portion bisecting the bottom of the burner box and extendingthereabove so as to define spaced apart upwardly facing recessedportions on either side thereof for receiving surface cooking devices,

said plenum including a body portion disposed generally between theburner box and oven and terminating in a lower portion in communicationwith a power driven exhaust fan whereby air is drawn into the plenumchamber entrance from across the surface cooking devices on either sidethereof and discharged from the exhaust fan by ducting through abuilding wall to the atmosphere,

said oven including a chamber having an air inlet and an air outlet incommunication with said plenum,

and means adjacent said oven chamber outlet to said plenum chamber tocontrol the volume of air drawn through said oven chamber into saidplenum chamber.

2. The claimed subject matter of claim 1 wherein said means comprisesadamper manually controllable through articulated linkage.

3. A housing for a ventilated cooking range comprising:

burner box means having side and bottom walls received below the topsurface of the housing and defining upwardly facing recess portions forreceiving therein surface cooking devices,

an oven chamber beneath said burner box means,

an air plenum chamber having an entrance portion disposed generallybetween said burner box means and extending upwardly,

said plenum including a body portion disposed generally between theburner box means and oven and terminating in a lower portion incommunication with a power driven exhaust fan whereby air is drawn intothe plenum chamber entrance from across the surface cooking devices oneither side thereof for discharging from the exhaust fan by ductingthrough a building wall to the atmosphere,

said oven chamber having an air inlet and an air outlet in communicationwith said plenum,

and damper means adjacent said oven chamber outlet to said plenumchamber to control the volume of air drawn through said oven chamberinto said plenum chamber.

4. The claimed subject matter of claim 3 wherein said damper means ismanually controllable through articulated linkage from outside saidhousing.

